Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Russel Metals shares reached a new 52-week high of C$70.97, above the previous close of C$70.70, with the stock trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts have broadly turned more bullish, with several firms raising price targets; the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from six Buy and two Hold recommendations.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of C$1.30 on C$1.42 billion in revenue and maintains a quarterly dividend of C$0.44, equivalent to a 2.6% yield, although insiders have sold more than 73,000 shares in the past three months.

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$70.97 and last traded at C$70.97, with a volume of 3684 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$70.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on RUS shares. Scotia boosted their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$65.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Friday, June 5th. TD lifted their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$61.17.

Russel Metals Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of C$62.91 and a 200 day moving average of C$54.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.42 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Russel Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,000 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.28, for a total transaction of C$316,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$781,887.68. The trade was a 28.81% decrease in their position. Also, insider John Gregory Reid sold 28,935 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$58.62, for a total transaction of C$1,696,169.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 306,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$17,946,337.14. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 73,935 shares of company stock worth $4,430,667 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Russel Metals Company Profile

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.

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